LEGO® Architecture 21044 Paris and 21043 San Francisco

We asked New Elementary regular Sven Franic to take a look at the two new LEGO® Architecture sets due for release on 1st January 2019.  Read on to find out the new elements and build techniques within 21044 Paris and 21043 San Francisco.

The Architecture Skyline sub-theme has been running successfully since 2016 and we are getting some of the most recognizable cities in 2019. The most iconic landmark of Paris was featured in a number of previous Architecture sets, which is a good demonstration of the dynamics of scale and progress that was achieved by the introduction of new elements to build up the Eiffel Tower over the years.

LEGO® Technic 42080 Forest Harvester

Ryan Welles is back, to review LEGO® Technic 42080 LEGO Technic Forest Harvester which is priced at £119.99 / $149.99 / 129.99€. It is available at Amazon USA.

There were times the LEGO® community dreaded the idea that the Technic Pneumatic system might disappear. The golden years of airtanks, valves, compressors and pumps and at least one set a year that contained Pneumatics seemed long gone. This fear grew with the arrival of Power Functions (which was hard to combine with air pressure) and linear actuators (that had functions similar to Pneumatics, more control over movement and a more challenging building experience). Between the years 2006 and 2009 none of the sets released had Pneumatics. In 2010 there was a revival with set 8049 Tractor with Log Loader, without any new parts. But part innovation was just around the corner.

LEGO® Ideas 21315 Pop-up Book

Sven Franic takes a peep inside the latest LEGO® Ideas set, 21315 Pop-up Book, and discovers a set that is beautiful in its design, mechanics and overall creative concept. 





The LEGO® theme without a theme, also known as LEGO Ideas, has given a traditional object a fresh brick-based perspective. Pop-up books embrace a combination of the intricate arts of bookbinding, illustration and origami, resulting in an interactive, palpable storytelling medium. If only there was a toy today that could do that ;) 



(CW:HP) LEGO® Fantastic Beasts: new bricks and bits of beasties

We thought that it was time to take a look at the remaining new elements in the LEGO® Fantastic Beasts sets that were released last month as part of the Wizarding World theme. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.

There are two sets in the LEGO® Fantastic Beasts range: 75951 Grindlewald’s Escape which has 132 elements, two minifigures and a price tag of  US$19.99/£19.99/29.99€ and 75952 Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures with 694 elements, four minifigures and costs US$49.99/£44.99/49.99€.

New parts in 75951 Grindlewald’s Escape 

Within Grindlewald’s Escape, there are two elements that are completely new moulds and both belong to Thestral, the flying horse creature.

(CW:HP) LEGO® BrickHeadz: Harry Potter, Frozen and Star Wars

The LEGO® BrickHeadz theme continues its domination of all known and imagined universes by bringing us collectable characters from some of today's most popular franchises. Sven Franic sees how this latest batch get along, including its introduction of a new template for smaller BrickHeadz characters. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.





I had the chance to review the first batch of BrickHeadz more than a year ago. I never would have guessed at the time that Marcos Bessa’s standard for chibi characters would gain so much popularity. There is a high standard of quality behind the sets, considering the price range. Despite their blocky outer appearance, it takes a lot of tiny slopes and tiles to capture the spirit of a character. All decorations are printed and applied generously, and the sets tend to come with a lot of freshly re-coloured pieces.



(CW:HP) LEGO® Harry Potter: 71403 Hogwarts Castle

LEGO® have just released their second largest set ever, 71043 Hogwarts Castle, so Elspeth De Montes thought we would take a look at the new elements. With 6,020 parts and a £349.99/ US$399.99/ 399.99€ price tag, perhaps we should warn you to pop the kettle on a get yourself a cuppa as there are quite a few magical elements to uncover in this huge set. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.

To start, there are three interesting new moulds all introduced in Brick Yellow [TLG]/ Tan [BL].

The first two are currently exclusive to 71043 Hogwarts Castle, and have an important role in depicting the microscale arched windows of Hogwarts’ Great Hall.

LEGO® Ideas parts review: 21311 Voltron

Chris McVeigh takes a look at what makes up Voltron, Defender of the Universe; the newest set from LEGO® Ideas. Set 21311 has 2,321 pieces – including lots of silver ones – and is now available priced £159.99 / US$179.99 / 179.99€.

Leandro (Lendy) Tayag’s winning LEGO® Ideas submission blasts its way to market as 21311 Voltron. The towering robot defender comes to life by combining five mechanized lions, each which is a separate model in this set. So how does Voltron stack up (both literally, and in terms of new elements)? Let’s take a closer look!

LEGO® Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane

New sets from the LEGO® Technic range are available as of today, and first up Ryan Welles takes a look at the biggest of the bunch – 42082 Rough Terrain Crane. It's got 4,057 parts and retails for US$299.99 / £229.99 (at time of writing it is 12% off at Amazon UK).

Bigger, stronger, faster: these seem to be the adages of the LEGO® Technic design team for the past couple of years. Nearly every year, Technic sets get bigger and more impressive. Where once a 1,800 piece kit was considered a rather stellar feat, now a multitude of parts seems to be the rule rather than the exception with the product range's flagship models. Earlier this year, 42083 Bugatti Chiron was the second biggest set in piece count after 2016's 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator. But hardly two months later, the number one position has been seized by this year's flagship model: 42082 Rough Terrain Crane.

The mere size of this crane urges the question: how much pressure and force can ABS actually take? And it holds up surprisingly well. There have been a number of large cranes produced over the years and this 2018 behemoth does not offer groundbreaking or original functions. What future lies ahead?

LEGO® 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5

Each summer the LEGO® Creator Expert theme release a large scale vehicle, such as last year's 10258 London Bus. This year, the subject remains frightfully British: today The LEGO Group revealed 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5. Sven Franic took an early look to find all the new parts and of course, to play with the gadgets!

The latest LEGO® Creator Expert car model is an acquired taste. To be fair, the slick Superleggera design is not easily translated to brick form. I learned to love this model through the building experience and it turned out to be one of the most ingenious LEGO model designs I have ever come across.

LEGO® Architecture 21042 Statue of Liberty: The new parts

Packed with interesting techniques, LEGO® Architecture 21042 Statue of Liberty is my favourite build of the year so far. Today, I'm going to examine the parts that have been provided in new colours in this new set and show a couple of cool techniques that the designer has used.

Inside Tour 2018 exclusive set

Spoiler alert! If you don't want to know what this year's LEGO® Inside Tour set is, look away now. Because Márton Ferenci was fortunate enough to attend and has given us this brief insight into the set, which can now be revealed to the public.

Being part of the LEGO Inside Tour is part luck, part madness. 3000 people signed up and a lucky 170-ish got chosen. Each year the participants receive a limited edition set, the subject of which is handpicked by the Kristiansen family to commemorate this special occasion.

The box gets handed out at the end of an intense 2.5 day journey deep into the real LEGO “land”. After learning so much about moulding, visiting the factory and meeting the LEGO designers (above), it is a true highlight to be given one of these.

LEGO® Jurassic World 2018: The new elements

Having opened all the Jurassic World sets to explore the new dinosaurs and re-colours of previously known dinosaurs, Elspeth De Montes turns her attention to the new elements within the 2018 range of LEGO® Jurassic World sets (excluding 75927 Stygimoloch Breakout and 75928 Blue's Helicopter Pursuit, which contain no new elements.)

75930 Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate

The largest set in the Jurassic World 2018 line-up is 75930 Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate with 1,019 pieces. There are five new elements that make their debut in a new colour and a few notable elements that are still relatively rare or new for 2018.

LEGO® Technic set review: 42083 Bugatti Chiron

Alexandre Campos has already examined all the new parts in the LEGO® Technic 42083 Bugatti Chiron and now turns his attention to the incredible build process.

As mentioned previously, 42083 Bugatti Chiron is divided into six numbered boxes, each with numbered bags, and this is a godsend. Having to search among 3599 parts at once would be maddening. Some instruction steps are also extra helpful with the build, especially when Earth Blue [TLG]/ Dark Blue [BL] elements are involved: a red outline marks newly-added elements. Still, make no mistake: this is an intricate and complicated build, and often it's hard to know what goes where, and easy to make mistakes.

LEGO® Technic parts review: 42083 Bugatti Chiron

It's a beast in so many ways –  the LEGO® Technic 42083 Bugatti Chiron contains 3599 pieces and is priced at £329.99 / $349.99 / 369.99€. We're celebrating it at New Elementary with a series of three posts this week and to start, Alexandre Campos is opening the box and seeing what new and recoloured parts lie within.

After the success of the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, it was kind of expected that The LEGO Group would launch a second "Technic Expert" set. The 42056 raised the bar on size, complexity, and authenticity for LEGO Technic. Not to mention it introduced many new elements that would see wide usage across the rest of the Technic line, such as the Technic Steering Wheel Hub Holder with 2 Pin Holes and 2 Axle Holes (Design ID 23801), the Technic Axle Connector 3L (Design ID 26287), or the Technic Panel Curved 7 x 3 with 2 Pin Holes through Panel Surface (Design ID 24119).

After a period of secrecy and rumours, LEGO Technic set 42083 Bugatti Chiron was unveiled on 1st June 2018 at the LEGO House, with the presences of the top brass from TLG, Bugatti, and the LEGO fan community, plus a real-life Chiron.

LEGO® Creator 10261 Roller Coaster

The fairground sub-theme of LEGO® Creator continues in 2018 with the thrilling 10261 Roller Coaster. Sven Franic has braved the ride to bring you info on all the new parts in this 4080-piece set, priced £299.99 / US$379.99 / 329.99€ and on general sale from 1 June 2018.

When the new roller coaster tracks were first introduced last autumn, I think we all knew TLG hadn’t made six new elements purely for the Joker Manor. It was just a matter of time before we saw the first ever official roller coaster set.

Even with specialized track and car elements, the 10261 Roller Coaster is a feat of mathematical LEGO engineering. All that geometry serving both structural and aesthetic functions had to be legal, which looks simpler than it actually is.  In terms of overall dimensions, I think this is the largest LEGO set ever. Besides, it is a sort of milestone in the LEGO System.




Brickheadz 41597 Go Brick Me

The LEGO® Brickheadz theme seems to have been a huge success for The LEGO Group. We sent a copy of 41597 Go Brick Me to Chris McVeigh and asked him to... er... go brick himself.

41597 Go Brick Me asks you to build yourself as a BrickHeadz. It’s the best kind of LEGO set; one that provides structure through a branching building guide, but ultimately nudges you outside the lines. The template for your BrickHeadz is you, and that means the end result is always unique.

21036 Arc De Triomphe

We head back to 2017 today with 21036 Arc De Triomphe, from the perspective of someone who's never bought a LEGO® Architecture set before; Jay Phoenix, who can be found on Flickr and Twitter.

So, first off I’ve got a bit of a guilty confession to make – even though LEGO Architecture’s been around for a decade now and had over 40 sets released… I’ve never actually been interested enough in the theme itself to actually buy any of ‘em before. As someone who’s always been more sucked in by minifig-scale themes like City, Friends, Creator and occasionally more action-y ones like Ninjago, Architecture has always been one of those things I’ve occasionally seen on the shelves, gone “Oh, that looks alright I guess” and continued on my merry way.

So when Tim handed me a shiny new copy of 21036 Arc De Triomphe to rebuild for here, I had a little bit of a think about how exactly I should approach it. Instead of just rebuilding the model into something else like last time, I decided to do a lil’ review of the set itself as an insight into the mind of an ‘Architecture Virgin’, as such (also, note to self: never use the phrase ‘Architecture Virgin’ ever again).

LEGO® Jurassic World 2018: Elementosaurus Part 2

For her second post about the latest LEGO® dinosaurs, Elspeth De Montes looks at the new 2018 versions of previous moulds, comparing them to the original themes, and goes even further back in LEGO history to dabble in freakish genetic experiments... 

The series of tie-in LEGO® sets released ahead of this year’s summer blockbuster Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom feature a toothsome line-up of LEGO dinosaurs.

Part 1 of our review introduced the three new full-size dinosaurs - Carnotaurus, Indoraptor and Stygimoloch - and now we will take a look at the remaining dinosaurs, as there are some interesting recolours of old friends.

LEGO® Jurassic World 2018: Elementosaurus Part 1

Elspeth De Montes goes dino-crazy today with LEGO® sets from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which are now available.

The LEGO Group have released a series of tie-in sets ahead of this year’s summer blockbuster. In total there are 12 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sets being released and, in addition to these, 75932 Jurassic Park Velociraptor Chase allows you to re-enact the iconic ‘velociraptor in the kitchen’ scene from the original movie. We have been able to review the parts and dinosaurs from the eight main sets (the other five being two Juniors sets, two Duplo sets and a BrickHeadz set). We will be taking a look at all the new elements included at a later date, but first let’s take a look at the return of the LEGO Jurassic beasts.

LEGO® Ideas 21314 TRON: Legacy

The latest LEGO® Ideas set 21314 TRON: Legacy is available from March 31, 2018 priced £29.99/ US$34.99/ 34.99€. It depicts the iconic race between two light cycles and is based on the 2010 film which is a sequel to the technically ambitious 1982 original.

The original submission, by fans BrickBrosUK from Devon, proposed one light cycle and minifigure. Even though this has been expanded to include another light cycle and two further minifigures, it's still a small set at just 230 pieces. And of course, you are building the same vehicle twice. Thankfully it's an ingenious build; clever in its compactness and some interesting connections. But as ever, we are here to discuss the parts!